Damascene Swartland Syrah 2022
Vineyards
Swartland, South Africa
Winemaking & Maturation
This Swartland Syrah has the typical concentration of low-yielding vineyards planted in Mediterranean climatic conditions. Whole-berry fermentation was used. Between 60% and 75% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters.
All fermentations took place spontaneously, using only naturally occurring yeasts. Malolactic conversion also occurred spontaneously. The wine was matured in 2000-litre Austrian oak vats for 11 months.
This wine will be at its most expressive within five years of vintage but, with careful cellaring, will continue to evolve and improve for more than a decade.
Tasting Note
From three divergent Swartland sites. Soils of granite, schist, shale and ferricrete act as building blocks to achieve striking, harmonious balance. The purity, perfume and spice of granite-grown fruit is complemented by the more earthy tones of grapes harvested from shale and schist outcrops, imbuing the wine with structure and depth.
By far the moodiest of the Damascene Syrah trio, the Swartland expression opens with impressive aromatic depth; showing wild blackberries, aniseed, mulberries, and savoury Kalamata olive tapenade. The weighty palate keeps pace with the vanguard, possessing the power to support vivid ripe blackberry and black plum fruit, underpinned by tightly-wound, firm black cherry skin tannins.
